ISAN
007
OPINION
Coming Wednesday, December 5...
Williams: Learning a less popular foreign language can improve your job prospects.
Mirostaw: Non-traditional students face all the obstacles of younger ones, plus added responsibilities.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WWW.KANSAN.COM
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2007
PAGE 7A
BITSO'WISDOM
GUEST COLUMN
Student involvement increases during 2008 election season
Exciting candidates and campus groups contribute to a strong political atmosphere
It was 10:30 at night, in the middle of September. A large group of KU students were in front of a hotel in Kansas City. Most people had classes early the next morning for which to be up. The event that was scheduled to happen was being delayed. So why were we all there, waiting patiently? Because Barack Obama was coming, that is why. The young, eloquent senator from Illinois with aspirations for the Oval Office was on his way to meet us out by his hotel, after a long day of traveling and speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who were having a convention in town that day. There was electricity in the air just from waiting for him, and when the senator arrived, it was like people had gathered to meet their favorite rock star, albeit without people throwing their underwear at him.
Something occurred to me that night, as I stood among the throng of Obama supporters. The people I met up with at that last-minute rally were not just interested in a political candidate, they were excited. A generation that seemed like it was doomed to choose between apathy and cynicism has chosen something else altogether: Passion.
On campus, more and more groups are springing up to promote one aspiring U.S. president or another. There are a few supporting Obama, one for Hillary Clinton has just started becoming active, and I envy anyone who can go a few hours on campus without spotting yet another flier or chalking for Ron Paul.
Ron Paul in particular seems to have captured the interest of many students. That obnoxious chalking of his face on Wesco Beach didn't come out of nowhere, after all. Now, I myself am
not the biggest fan of Paul, but I do find it encouraging that so many people are so moved by their passion for the man that they are willing to put as much time and energy as they have into supporting him. It would be nice, though, if they would stop putting chalk on places where people usually sit. Generally, it doesn't help a candidate's chances if their
a candidate's chances if their advertisements end up smeared all over the bottom of someone's jeans.
This recent surge in involvement is encouraging. After the 2004 election cycle, it seemed like the enthusiasm of students had been for nothing. Howard Dean, the Democrat who had based his campaign on the energy and support of young people, had been soundly defeated in the primaries by John Kerry. Many people attempted to transfer their enthusiasm to Kerry after Dean's defeat, but it, in the end, rang hollow, as he was unsuccessful at inspiring them in the same way. When Kerry was defeated by George W. Bush, it appeared that what air was left in the sails of most active students had finally died down.
A funny thing has happened since then. More and more students have become supporters of the newest crop of candidates, and they have not been ignored. "The Daily Show" has become as standard a stop for politicians on the talk-show circuit as "Meet the Press." CNN has utilized YouTube during debates. Soon enough, we may see MTV host a dance-off between the Republican candidates. By the way, if that last one actually happens, my money is on Mike Huckabee. He's got some sweet moves.
Back here at KU, you can expect to see all the current groups, and probably some ones that will spring up in the next few weeks, pulling double-duty to help their preferred Future Savior of America do well in the primaries. Hopefully, all of the enthusiasm they have now will last longer than next November.
Cohen is a Topeka junior in journalism and English.
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I think Stop Day should be a national holiday. Or be called "National Hangover Awareness Day," because that's what it really is for about half of KU.
Anybody else see White Owl at Abe and Jakes Friday, because I did!
How many of you freshman are getting ready to re-take classes?
I can't wait to see the football team play again!
Major league baseball fails to inspire diversity Decades after Jackie Robinson, the MLB abandons its populist roots, racial integration
Help! I fell in love with a language major!
I'm a freshman and I have a 4.0 thank you.
Reesing, show 'em what you're made of!
Yesterday marked the first day of the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings, but the hot stove has been searing since the final out of the World Series.
Alex Rodriguez kick started the offseason announcing his intent to opt out of his contract with the New York Yankees soon after the Boston Red Sox clinched their second World Series in four years, but my attention shifted to another free agent three weeks ago.
That's when I read a story in The Kansas City Star by Bob Dutton, reporting that the Kansas City Royals were interested in signing free agent center fielder Torii Hunter, despite the long odds against the club.
Any other time, the main disadvantage facing Kansas City would involve its low payroll. But this time, Dutton, citing a story on MLB.com, wrote that the Royals might be unable to sign Hunter because of the team's low African-American fan base.
"I always talk to my wife about being interested in playing in front of the African-American fans and trying to get the African-American back to playing the game," Hunter told MLB.com. "If I go to Atlanta or D.C. and make a difference that way, I would love it. Trust me — D.C. is very interesting to me, as well as Atlanta."
While I was initially disappointed to read yet another reason players might dodge Kansas City and although Hunter ultimately signed with the Los Angeles Angels, I found the quote refreshing. It made me think back to this spring when MLB celebrated the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.
MLB put on a wonderful ceremony to remember Robinson and, considering one survey showed that more than 40 percent of the players in MLB were nonwhite, the anniversary was all the more special. However, the event wasn't as joyous as it could have been because of another percentage. The same survey revealed that merely 8.4 percent of the players in MLB were African-American.
According to the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, African-Americans comprised 27 percent of MLB in 1975. What happened? As far as I can tell, Major League Baseball simply had the rug snatched out from under its feet by the National Basketball Association and the National Football League in the '90s before it even realized what happened.
In the early '90s, MLB seemed preoccupied with marketing its game, rather than its players, globally. This was apparent with the expansion of four new franchises in six years: The Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins in 1993 and the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998. MLB then made a concerted effort at the turn of the century to bring in more players from Latin American countries and Japan. Its global outreach culminated in 2006 with the World Baseball Classic.
Meanwhile, MLB forgot
about inner city America. Despite having two phenomenal African-American athletes in their prime in Ken Griffey Jr. and Barry Bonds in the '90s, MLB failed to market itself to the blacks youths in its backyard. If not for Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's home run chase in 1998, MLB might have lost touch with American youths altogether. But even that chase probably appealed more to white and Latino youths than it did young blacks.
By the time Bonds set the single season home run record in 2001, it was too late. The NBA and NFL had already taken over the inner cities.
On cost alone, basketball is a more appealing sport. Basketball shoes are no more expensive than baseball spikes and can be worn off the court, too. It makes more sense to buy a basketball for a group of boys to play with than a baseball bat. Figure in the additional equipment and bodies needed to play baseball compared to a pickup game of basketball and suddenly baseball isn't an option.
Capitalizing on America's short attention span and attraction to controlled violence, the NFL has catapulted its way to the top of the American sports hierarchy. Everything about the NFL is larger than life, from the Super Bowl to the NFL Draft to fantasy football. With African-Americans becoming more prevalent on the gridiron, it is easier for black youths to find an NFL player to idolize.
Football also offers African-Americans a better opportunity to attain a college education, compared to baseball. Division 1 football programs have 85 scholarships to offer. Division 1 baseball programs are allotted only 11.7 scholarships and, according to Kansas baseball coach Ritch Price, many programs don't have enough funding to offer that many. As a result, Price said the best high school athletes choose to play sports that give them a chance to earn full rides, whereas books and tuition is about the most college baseball players can expect to have paid for.
Price said MLB could help college baseball by setting up a scholarship fund for minority athletes, which in turn would offer African-American ballplayers a better opportunity to play professional baseball.
To MLB's credit, it has amped up its RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program. In the last couple of seasons, MLB has actively publicized the program with commercials featuring such African-American baseball players as Ryan Howard and Dontrelle Willis. MLB needs to continue to reseed America's inner cities. It can start by marketing young, African-American ballplayers such as Howard, Willis, Prince Fielder, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton and Lastings Milledge better than it did Griffey and Bonds in the '90s.
Fortunately, at least one big leaguer is taking it upon himself to bring African-American youths back to baseball: Torii Hunter.
It's encouraging to see a highprofile player make it a priority to connect with the AfricanAmerican population during a time when so many athletes are chasing dollar signs. Howard, Willis, Fielder, Crawford, Upton and Milledge should follow Hunter's lead. This issue shouldn't only enter the nation's consciousness when we pay tribute to Jackie Robinson.
Shroyer is a Mound City senior in journalism.
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